MINNEAPOLIS - NOVEMBER 22: Adrian Peterson #28 of the Minnesota Vikings smiles on the sideline against the Seattle Seahawks at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome on November 22, 2009 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

Before winning the NFL MVP award Saturday night, Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson spent two weeks making the rounds with TV and radio outlets that wanted to get the 2,000-yard rusher on air.
The media blitz started last week in Hawaii at the Pro Bowl and continued this week in New Orleans, site of Saturday night's NFL awards ceremony. Inevitably, the discussion always came around to Peterson's qualifications for the MVP award. The Vikings superstar would respond, as he has for more than a month, that he deserved to win the honor for the first time in his six-year career.
Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, Peterson's main competition for the award who ended up finishing second Saturday, playfully ribbed Peterson in Hawaii, saying the running back was lobbying for the MVP. In reality, Manning probably figured he simply didn't need to promote himself.
When it comes to the MVP award, quarterbacks have long held a built-in advantage: inertia. Before Peterson broke throu...

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